Musical instrument



Nov. 8', 192 7' 1,648,713

6. ANDERSH MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed May 12. 1926 2 Sheets- Sheet l I I I! l X 7 l I 5 2 55 2 5 diaz-Zeslzzierwfi,

INVENTOR ATTORNEY WITNESS UNITED STA TE S 1,648,713 PATENT QFFICE;

CTIARLE 'ANDER SH, OF WAGNER, SGUTH DAKOTA.

, MUsroAL ms rnmunntr.

r Application Ilia 1 2,

This myth-non; relates, ,to musical inst i ea s particularly to .v those of. the string type and has, for its object, the proy sion of anouel instrument capable of be ng strung 5 and played in a manner similar to the playin ofaitenorbanjo, i i

n' important and more speclfic o hpct s the provision of; an instrument which is pro- Yided" withna peculiarly constructed head in and sounding beard arrangement whereby the, tonal qualities willbe superiorto, what o btained with the ordinary type, of hanjolorequivalent instrument... A

A ,s t illffurther object is to provlde an 1n- 1'5 strumentin w'hith the head is provided with a corrugated sounding board which 3 i151 a tu l? practic b a OICllIlZl'ry washboiilidto certain attachments-are applied for thepurpose ofconvertmg t into a innsical instrument, there being, however,

no limitation in thisrespect asit is content plated: that th e ,head ma be speciallyep structed for the purpose without utilizing such an implement.

.Still another ohject is to providea device thischaraCte-r in which the headhas a series or openings at both sides thereof permitting the, sound to escape into the air, the

prouision tthe multiplicity of openings providing ample egress ion whateversound Waves are generated so that the oluin e will be, what may be called the maximum possible. I r 1 An additional ohject is to provide an im s trument this character which will be simple, and, inexpensive .in. ,manufaetur strong and durable, as easy to play as one of an ordinary typeand which will be ageneral improvement inthe art.

;,,wiu1 the ahore, a atthefi bh'ie'ctsand a1 vantages in iew,,th' e invention consists in the hotel onstruction and arrangement of elements to be. hereinafter more fully describedand claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drai i 'in'gmin which v Figure 1 .is an: elevation or plan View of the complete device.

Figure2 is a cross sectional View taken on t'li l'ine 22 of Figure 1 and Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional View taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary View of the rear or underside.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, it 'will be seen that regardless of whether the head of the instrument be 1926. are No. ioae so.

formed from a conventional"washhoard or the like it comprises arectangular preterably wooden frame indic ated by the numeral 10 and including spaced parallellOiIgitudiQ nally extending'side bars 11 connected by across 12, the confrontingedges ot the sidebars of the vframe beingdgrooy ed as in; dicated at 1.3 to] receive the side edgesof, the sounding board 14i wl ich is pr eferablyof metal and is formed with corruga tionsllt extending transversely thereofi it will be ohyious. that by extending the side bars .11 beyond the, endslof the sounding hoard 14 as clearly shown in of thel drawings, and connecting oneoi ends of said, side harsll with the cross bar l2,, l the construction will, simulate a wash; board of the usual construction. Bivotally secured tothe cross bar 12 is an arm rest 12 which as shown is arranged indits normal pe i en h t r d p sed a rig t n: gles to the bar 12 when it is desired to use thesan e. Any suitable me-a ns such as the retaining strip 16 may be provided fitting W hi esi' ov a d h ing ee es of the sounding board whereby tohold the eme e u sly n p en- The ab vede scribed frame 10 further includes a cross member ,17 which is located inwardly with respe'ct to the ends of. the sidemem bers 11,, this cross member 17 being similarito an intermediate cross member 18 which is spaced from the first mentioned cross member lQ. Both of the cross members of the frame 17 and 18 are grooved attheir confronting edges as shown at 19 forthe reception oifthe other two edges of the c0rru gated sounding board v14. v r I y plate 20 is located betweenthe cross members 12 and 18, both of which are grooved at 21 for thereception of the edges there0:f., h I 1 n Secured upon the underside tram cross member 18 is a bar or strip 22 to which is wcured as by bolts 23, or the like, one end of an elongated bar 24,.which extendsto a point ,beyondthe cross member ,17 and which is securedthereto by a bolt 25. The

described bolt 25 passing throu h this extension. for the neck, use may be made of a securing element such as a wooden screw indicated at 31, this screw passing through the projecting end of the bar 24 and into the neck adjacent the recess portion thereof. At its free end, the neck of course carries the usual tuning pegs 32 with Which are connected the strings 33 which pass over the nut 28, along the finger board, over the usual bridge 34 and which are connected with the tailpiece 35 which is suitably secured to the cross member 18.

Mortised onto or otherwise secured to the intermediate portion of the bar 24 and 10 cated between it and the sounding board 14 is a. transverse arm 36 which is provided at its ends with spaced parallel foot pieces formed as strips 37 spaced with felt or the like 38 bearing against the underside of the sounding board for the purpose of bowing the same slightly as indicated in Figure 2 and maintaining it under suflicient tension to prevent it from vibrating at its natural frequency and producing inharmonious sounds as a consequence. The feature of applying tension to the sounding board is beieved to be rather important especially as the sounding board itself is of metal construction.

The head further includes a resonator formed as a casing-like member 39 of metal and of greater width than the frame 10 and of substantially the same length as the overall dimensions betwen the cross members 17 and 18. This resonator 89 is provided at one edge with a wall portion or flange 40 which is notched for the accommodation of the projecting upper end of the bar 24 and the adjacent portion of the neck. At its opposite end or edge this resonator is suitably secured to the transverse bar or strip 22 as clearly indicated in Figure 8. The side edges, indicated at 41 are formed with inwardly directed flanges 42 received within suitable grooves in the outer edges of the side members 11 of the frame, and these flanges 42 are each formed with a plurality of holes 43 to permit the exit of sound.

Assuming that the instrument has been constructed and assembled as above described, it is clear that the intention is that it be strung and tuned so as to be played similarly to the playing of a tenor banjo.

v In actual practice I have discovered that the instrument is very efiicient and that the As an additional hol ing means tonal qualities are pleasing and true, the sound produced having, moreover, an unusually large volume which is of course of material advantage. It is really believed that the construction will be readily appar ent to one skilled in the art Without further explanation.

\Vhile I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of the invention, it should be understood that I reserve the right to make such changes in the form, construction and arrangement of parts as will not de part from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described the invention, I claim 1. In an lllStI'llD'lQDt of the character described, a. rectangular frame, a corrugated metal sounding board secured thereto, a bar extending longitudinally of and secured to the underside of the frame, a neck secured to the frame and the bar, a resonator secured to the frame, and abutment means carried by said longitudinal bar and engaging the underside of the corrugated sounding board for maintaining it bowed.

2. In an instrument of the character de scribed, a rectangular frame, a corrugated metal sounding board secured thereto, a bar extending longitudinally of and secured to the underside of the frame, a neck secured to the frame and the bar, a resonator secured to the frame, and means carried by said longitudinal bar and engaging the underside of the corrugated sounding board for maintaining it under tension in a slightly bowed manner, said means comprising a transversely arranged bar carried by the longitudinal bar, and foot pieces carried by the end portions of said transversebar.

3. In an instrument of the character described, a rectangular frame grooved around its inner side, a corrugated metal sounding board. having its edges engaged within said groove, a longitudinal bar secured to the frame at the underside thereof, a rectangular metallic resonator secured to the frame, outwardly of said longitudinal bar, tension maintaining means on said longitudinal bar engaging against the underside of the corrugated sounding board for maintaining the same bowed, and a neck having a portion reces ed in a manner to fit conformingly with the longitudinal bar.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

CHA RLICS AN DERSH. 

